If you train in a gym, you’ve got plenty of hamstring training options to choose from. Most gyms have at least a few different leg curl machines, and you can also do Romanian deadlifts, good mornings, and cable leg curls.
Hamstring workouts need never be boring!
But, if you train at home or prefer bodyweight workouts, you may be struggling for ways to hit your hammies. That’s not to say you don’t have options; it’s just that your choices aren’t so obvious.
The good news is that there are actually plenty of bodyweight exercises for the hamstrings, and one of the best is the hamstring walkout.
In this article, we reveal why and how to do this exercise and provide you with eight equally effective variations and alternatives.
It’s probably no surprise to learn that hamstring walkouts train your hamstrings! However, they do involve a couple of additional muscles, too:
The hamstrings are actually a group of three muscles: the biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and semitendinosus. These muscles work together to flex your knees and extend your hips. Hamstring walkouts are one of several exercises that combine both of these functions.
The Gluteus maximus, or glute max for short, is the largest muscle in the human body and potentially the strongest, too. Located on the back of your hips, you are probably sitting on your glute max right now! The primary function of the gluteus maximus is the extension of the hip. Still, different fibers of the glutes also play a part in hip abduction, hip adduction, and external rotation.
The abductors lift your leg out and away from the midline of the body. During hamstring walkouts, your abductors primarily work as stabilizers, preventing your knees from caving in. The three main abductors are gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, and tensor fascia latae, which are located on the outside of your hip and thigh, respectively.
Located on the inside of your thighs, the adductors draw your legs in and toward the midline of your body. The adductors are longus, brevis, and magnus, meaning longest, shortest, and biggest. Like the abductors, the adductors work mainly as stabilizers during hamstring walkouts and stop your knees from falling outward.
Core is the collective term for the muscles that encircle your midsection. These muscles work a lot like a weightlifting belt to support and stabilize your lumber spine. The main core muscles are the rectus abdominis, obliques, and transverse abdominis. The Erector spinae, a lower back muscle, is also involved in hamstring walkouts.
Get more from hamstring walkouts while keeping your risk of injury to a minimum by following these guidelines:
Not sure if hamstring walkouts deserve a place in your leg workouts? Consider these benefits and then decide!
You don’t need any equipment to do hamstring walkouts. In fact, even a mat is optional! As such, you can do this exercise anywhere you’ve got the space to lie down, such as at home, in a hotel room, or even in a jail cell. They’re the perfect excuse-free glute and hamstring exercise.
Bodyweight squats and lunges are excellent lower-body conditioning exercises, especially when performed for medium to high reps. Try doing 50-100 air-squats or five minutes of non-stop walking lunges to appreciate how effective these exercises can be.
However, bodyweight squats and lunges are also very quads-centric, and while your glutes and hammies are involved, they’re not working particularly hard.
Hamstring walkouts are the perfect complementary exercise as they provide your hamstrings and glutes with a great bodyweight workout. Do hamstring walkouts to ensure your hamstrings and glutes are as well-developed as your quads.
Unlike many hamstring exercises, hamstring walkouts put very little stress on your lower back. Done correctly, you should not feel your lower back working at all. This is good news for anyone who suffers from lower back pain.
While hamstring walkouts are a mostly safe and beneficial exercise, there are also a couple of drawbacks to consider:
The stress on your muscles comes only from your body weight, so this exercise is not particularly demanding unless you go very slowly or do a lot of reps. You can also make it more challenging by contracting your muscles as hard as possible.
Even then, some people may find this exercise does not present much of a challenge or that they quickly get used to it.
While you can use hamstring walkouts to strengthen your hamstrings and improve muscle tone and endurance, you probably won’t build bigger, more muscular hammies. The load is not really heavy enough, and you’ll get better results from exercises like Nordic curls, Romanian deadlifts, and leg curls.
Hamstring walkouts are a highly effective posterior chain exercise, but that doesn’t mean you need to do them all the time. There are several variations and alternatives you can use to keep your workouts productive and interesting:
The elevated hamstring walkout saves you from having to lie on the floor, so it’s potentially a more comfortable exercise. It also provides a bit more distance between your butt and the deck, so you won’t have to worry so much about keeping your hips up. It feels a little different, too, and when it comes to avoiding training plateaus, different is good!
Why walk when you can roll?! Stability ball hamstring rollouts are very similar to walkouts, but the movement is smoother and more like a leg curl. So, if you’ve got a stability ball, you may prefer this exercise for hitting your hammies. It also produces an intense mid-rep contraction, so you’ll really feel this exercise working.
The glute bridge V walkout, also known as the straddle walkout, is a more butt-centric version of the hamstring walkout. Taking your legs out wide means you’ll have to engage your glutes and abductors more, making this a more challenging exercise.
While hamstring walkouts are an excellent posterior chain exercise, they may be too demanding for some beginners. After all, the stepping action means you’ll be loading one leg at a time. Hip thrusts use both legs simultaneously, making them a little more manageable. So, do this exercise if you find walkouts too intense right now.
Crab walks are a lot like hamstring walks. However, instead of doing them on the spot, with crab walks, you actually move forward. This increases hamstring engagement and makes the exercise even more functional. Crab walks are also good for shoulder stability and mobility.
Read more: Train your arms, glutes, and legs simultaneously using nothing more than your body weight, with crab walks.
No space to do crab walks? We hear ya! Don’t worry; you can do glute bridge marches instead. This exercise is more glute-centric than hamstring walkouts, but your hammies will still get an effective workout.
Leg curls are a great way to train your hammies, but if you train at home, you probably don’t have access to a leg curl machine. Don’t worry; you can replicate leg curls at home with a couple of versa-slides or even an old gym towel. This exercise is similar to stability ball hamstring rollouts minus the ball.
Most people do hamstring walkouts as an alternative to leg curls. After all, leg curls are arguably one of the best hamstring gym exercises around. However, doing them workout after workout can soon become boring. Spice up your leg workouts with this unique lying leg curl variation.
Got a question about hamstring walkouts or leg training in general? No sweat because we’ve got the answers!
Because hamstring walkouts are a bodyweight exercise, it’s all but impossible to tell you how many reps you should do. After all, we don’t know how heavy or strong you are.
So, rather than chase a specific rep count, just continue your sets until you feel like your muscles are about to fail. Leave 2-3 reps in the tank, but no more. This should be sufficient to trigger increases in muscle strength and size.
Most people should train every major muscle group twice a week, with workouts separated by several days, e.g., Monday and Thursday. This provides a good balance between work and recovery. You could try training your hammies more or less often. Still, two workouts per week should be sufficient for the majority of exercisers.
Hamstring and calf cramps are not uncommon when doing hamstring walkouts. They put a lot of tension through these muscles, and if you aren’t used to it, your muscles may respond by ceasing up. The good news is that this should become less of an issue as your muscles get stronger.
So, in the meantime, choose a less challenging exercise like glute bridges to condition your muscles for the demands of hamstring walkouts. Do this easier exercise for a month or so, and then reintroduce walkouts to your workouts.
While squats and lunges do work your hamstrings, they aren’t working all that hard. This is because your hips and knees move simultaneously, so your hamstrings don’t change length.
So, if you want to fully develop your hammies, you need to train them separately, using exercises that involve knee flexion, e.g., leg curls, and hip extension, e.g., Romanian deadlifts. Hamstring walkouts and the other exercises in this article are also excellent choices.
Many hamstring exercises also put a lot of stress on your lumbar spine. However, hamstring walkouts are much easier on your lower back, which means they’re one of the safest hammie exercises around. Done correctly, hamstring walkouts are very unlikely to cause significant injuries. However, like any exercise done incorrectly, they could still hurt you.
Hamstring walkouts can potentially increase muscle size, but mainly for beginners. More advanced exercisers will probably find that they aren’t hard enough to trigger hypertrophy.
However, doing hamstring walkouts will definitely improve your mind-muscle connection, which, in turn, will make the rest of your hamstring workout more effective. So, indirectly, doing hamstring walkouts could still lead to bigger leg biceps.
Contrary to popular opinion, leg exercises like squats, leg presses, and lunges are not the best way to build bigger hamstrings. While your hammies are involved in compound leg exercises, they don’t change length much, so they’re not getting the best possible workout.
So, if you want to develop your leg biceps, you must train your hamstrings more directly.
Leg curls and Romanian deadlifts are great options. Still, they may be impractical if you work out at home or prefer to do calisthenics.
The good news is that you can get a tremendous posterior leg workout from hamstring walkouts and the other exercises in this article.
So, don’t neglect your hamstrings – get down on the floor and do some walkouts. This effective exercise is perfect for home training and spicing up your tired and boring hamstring workout.
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